Orcas in the Open Ocean

Life for killer whales in the ocean is infinitely different, and many would say far better, than a life of captivity in a concrete tank. In the wild, most orcas stay near or with their families for life, travel up to 100 miles a day, and display complex communal rituals that provide stability, cooperation and regular opportunities for the unbridled expression of sheer joy.

Orcas are smart—among the most intelligent species in the world—making them particularly unsuitable to captivity, as I explain in my book Death at SeaWorld. Few people realize that killer whales are members of the family Delphinidae, making them the planet’s largest dolphins, giant cousins to the far more common bottlenose (think TV’s Flipper) and other species of seagoing dolphins. Orcas not only have the largest brain of any dolphin, but at 12 pounds it is also four times larger than the human brain, and second only to the sperm whale in heft and volume.

Ever since I was little, I’m always fascinated with the images printed on the pages of travel magazines. Until today, those images still lingers in my memory. I started traveling to fulfill my dream, and that dream is to turn those images into reality, to experience how it feels like to be in a place where I have imagined myself to be. Now, I’m living the dream!